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Tell me about Carnival's winery tour in Ensenada

PaddleAddict

By PaddleAddict,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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PaddleAddict

PaddleAddict

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I am thinking about doing this with my group, but I wish I could find out more information. Like, how many wineries do you visit, do you get lunch and most important is the wine any good???

 

Just trying to decide if I should recommend this tour to my group. I don't usually book ship tours but the price is reasonable and it sounds like something fun to do.

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Edward John Smith

Edward John Smith

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Last time we were in Ensenada, it was on the Paradise, we rented a car from Hertz, they have an office in downtown and we drove to the wineries on our own. I seem to remember it is about a 20-30 minute drive north of town. Some wineries offer free tours of the wine-making facilities and free wine sampling. I am attaching a pic taken from inside our rental car as we were entering The Wine Road.

PICT0135.jpg.e9f1b744b2c5b78879d1616d2f5fb38e.jpg

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SadieN

SadieN

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We were able to book a private tour for 24 @ $20 per head including tip.

One winery charged us $5pp for tasting.

 

The Carnival tour is $34.95 and includes a bottle of wine (retail $8). The wine is decent. The tour goes to two wineries. One is La Cetto- a large winery with a complete winery tour. We had many varieites to taste.:D

The other winery we went to made their own jams, jellies and hot sauces. They had pizza (really good thin crispy crust) and huge sandwiches served with their four wines.

 

I do not know the particulars of the private tour but we didn't save much by doing it- $2pp at the most. (I do know the bus was $400)

 

Everyone that I know who has gone on the Wine tour has enjoyed it.

 

The Inspiration was very strict about taking liquor for storage in Ensenada. I did get mine back.

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lindseylu8

lindseylu8

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we did the blowhole + winery tour in Ensenada (dif than the winery tour) and we really enjoyed it. We drove to the blowhole (La Bufadoria) saw that, which was gorgeous, great views of the Pacific. There was some great bargain shopping there as well and a yummy yummy taco stand, along with a little stand for drinks. The guide was wonderful and told us where to buy, where to eat, and where to drink.

 

Then from there we drove to a the winery portion, it wasnt a vineyard but a winery. They showed us some old wine bottling equipment and then we went into the storefront & were able to sample 5-6 different wines and they also provided bread & olive oil. The wines were very good & reasonably priced. I bought 2 bottles to take home.

 

We chose the blowhole + wine because we thought it would be nice to do both and we had all day in Ensenada. Were glad we booked the longer tour because there really wasnt much else to do in Ensenada. We ended up back on the boat.

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romancing_the_sea

romancing_the_sea

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We absolutely loved Carnival's winery tour in Ensenada. I'd been to Ensenada years before and had remembered nice things about it - going to some winery downtown and the blowhole. But this time it was even better! Who knew there was such a wine culture there and so many wineries. We had an absolute blast at the tastings and one winery tour host was hilarious. I couldn't recommend it more. This tour was just the wine country.

 

PS - I wrote up a series of posts (with pics) on our Two4Disney blog - it all starts here with Carnival Paradise, Day One.

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Martini Mom

Martini Mom

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We did the tour through the ship (before we knew about outside tours). It was a very nice tour. We boarded a clean, air-conditioned charter bus that met us right at the dock. We had a nice guide on the bus that gave us info on the area as we drove inland to the wineries. I don't remember how long that took.

 

We went to two wineries and they were both nice. One had a cool underground wine cellar. The wine was pretty good (yes, better than 2 buck Chuck). We also tasted some tequila etc. Everyone on the tour had a really good time and felt it was worth the money. Fyi- The free bottle of wine that they give you is held by the ship until the end of the cruise.

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skiorcruise

skiorcruise

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We have done the winery tour twice. About a 45min - 1 hour bus ride out (north then east of town). visited two winerys, vineyards, etc. Activities depend on time of year. Beautiful flowers one time, none the next. Lots of wine pressing one time, none the other.

 

I tend towards the less expensive Chardonays (Franzia boxed for daily evening drink, Woodbridge on a better occassion) - really liked LaCello's whites.

 

I'd recommend this trip. My father, who has spent time touring the Napa Valley area, says the trip is very similar to several he has had in that area. He feels it is the best tour out of Ensananda.

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SadieN

SadieN

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There are/were two winery tours. One goes to the wineries and the other goes to the Blowhole and to a tasting room.

 

La Cetto we were served in glass. Do not remember about the other one ;)

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nevadabadgirl

nevadabadgirl

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We did this tour last year. It was a lot of fun and I am not even a big wine fan. We came back with 12 bottles of wine, 2 bottles of olive oil, 5 bottles of hot sauce and then bought some touristy crap at the port.

 

Moral of the story....if you bring on enough bags, they get tired of going through them :D They kept 4 bottles or so of wine and the rest ended up in my cabin :rolleyes:

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candigirl

candigirl

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I'll be joining you on the 2/24 Inspiration sailing and have decided to book the wine tour. There is a lot of positive info in these responses and if you check Carnival's website for excursion reviews all are favorable for the winery tour. So......CHEERS! See you in Ensenada!

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  • 1 month later...
GASPARTY

GASPARTY

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We have done this three times,the county side is pretty and clean. You sample several wines, re,white, other liquors. Their olive oil at Donatello is wonderful, as are the breads, mini pizzas, and olives. The views from the vineyards stretch and are beautiful. Mind you I was toasty [im also a light weight] but I sampled all at both vineyards. The last vineyard gives each person 2 bottles of wine. You can buy and have the wine shipped home or elsewheres. One of my favorite excursions.

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